Saturday, April 26, 2014

Most U.S. citizens tend to think stopping
undocumented workers at the border is a good thing that won't affect them. They should check out Todd Miller's new book about what
militarization has done to the Land of the Free. It's entitled Border Patrol Nation: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Homeland
Security and here's some facts from it.

"The U.S. borders have long been Constitution-free zones where more or
less anything goes, including warrantless searches of various sorts. In the
twenty-first century, however, the border itself, north as well as south, has
not only been increasingly up-armored, but redefined as a 100-mile-wide strip around the country.

"Our “borders” now cover an expanse in which
nearly 200 million Americans, or
two-thirds of the U.S. population, live. Included are nine of the 10 largest metropolitan areas. If you live in Florida,
Maine, or Michigan, for example, no matter how far inland you may be, you are
“on the border.” You can be stopped, interrogated, and searched “on an everyday
basis with absolutely no suspicion of wrongdoing.”

I own a copy of a
previous winner, In A Town Called
Mundomuerto, and love the magical realist writing of author Randall Silvis.
Anyway, the submission period for this contest doesn't begin until August, but
this posting will give you speculative fiction writers time to get manuscripts
prepared. There is a reading fee.

From the Omnidawn
website:

The winner of the annual Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Chapbook
Competition receives a $1,000 prize, publication of their chapbook with
full-color cover, 100 copies, and display advertising and publicity.Fabulist Fiction includes magic realism and literary forms of
fantasy, science fiction, horror, fable, and myth. Stories can be primarily
realistic, with elements of non-realism, or primarily, or entirely
non-realistic.

Open to all writers. All stories must be
original, in English, and unpublished. 5,000 to 12,000 words, consisting of
either one story or multiple stories. Online entries must be received between
Aug. 1 and Oct. 22, 2014. Reading fee $18. We expect to publish the winning
chapbook in August of 2015.

About Omnidawn: "Since 2001, we publish writing that opens us anew
to the myriad ways that language may bring new light, new awareness to us. We
began Omnidawn because of our belief
that lively, culturally pertinent, emotionally and intellectually engaging
literature can be of great value, and we wanted to participate in the
dissemination of such work. We believe our society needs small presses so that
widely diverse ideas and points-of-view are easily accessible to everyone.”

If you're more into writing "hard"
sci-fi, here's a contest with a $1500 honorarium and only requires one-page
about what you would write! No reading fee.

"Authors should submit a précis or brief
treatment (no more than 250 words) of a science fiction story idea that
explores themes in science, technology, and society. Submissions must be
received by June 1, 2014.

"Stories should fall into one of the
following five theme areas: Big data / artificial intelligence / brain science;
Education / jobs / future of the economy; Defense / security / privacy /
freedom; Biomedicine / genetics / health / future of the human; Future of
scientific research / automation of research & discovery. IST will
select up to five semi-finalists for each category. Authors will have 3 months
to submit their story, between 2,500 and 5,000 words. Winning stories will be
published in IST, and authors awarded a $1,500 honorarium. Read all the details."

Issues in Science and Technology (IST),
a quarterly journal that explores the intersections of science, technology,
society, and policy. The editors of IST believe science fiction (SF) can
help to bring key challenges and dilemmas in science and technology to an
influential readership in new and compelling ways. Scientists, engineers,
researchers, and policymakers often only see small pieces of an issue. SF
writers can imagine entire worlds. By fully thinking through how today’s
critical issues will play out, science fiction inspires, cautions, and guides
those shaping our future. Throughout 2015, IST will publish one SF story
per issue, on topics of broad societal interest.

And if you haven't heard yet, I'll be in L.A.
next week and hope to meet and talk with everyone who can attend. This is a precedent-setting gathering of 6
Latino sci-fi authors! What could happen? Quién sabe, pero vamos a ver.

The Science Fiction and
Technoculture Studies Program at University of California, Riverside will host
“A Day of Latino Science Fiction” next Wednesday, April 30, to be held in the
Interdisciplinary Symposium Room (INTS 1113). Free and open to the public.

The morning author panel will feature 1. Mario Acevedo, author of the
bestselling Felix Gomez detective-vampire series (The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, chosen by Barnes & Noble as one of
the best Paranormal Fantasy Novels of the Decade, and finalist in the Colorado
Book Awards and the International Latino Book Awards.

6. I'll be there talking about my
alternate-world fantasy novel The Closet
of Discarded Dreams (and about sci-fi stories) that took honorable mention in the
International Latino Book Awards’ Fantasy/Sci-Fi, last year.

Come and find out about getting your spec lit
published, the market for Latino sci-fi, the state of Latino spec lit and what
the future might hold for our obras. It should be a chingón time, and we hope
you come to add your voice and opinions.Check the details, especially about
parking.